


Cups of Coffee and Cats

by Cinnamean



Category: yuri on ice
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, More like a cafe but you know, No ice skating, SLIGHTLY aged-up Yuri, When will the fangirls stop, Yuri's salty af, coffee shop AU, there is ballet though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-10 00:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8919403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamean/pseuds/Cinnamean
Summary: When Viktor offers Yuri a job at the cafe Bean Queen, Yuri decides to try out. While there, he finally recognizes a person who has been admiring him from afar for a long time. Basically high school au/coffee shop au/dance au.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so ep 12 has destroyed me and I'm so happy that this anime exists so I've decided to write a multi chapter fic for this fandom. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Yuri packed away his ballet shoes into his duffel bag and zipped it closed with a sigh. Bending down, he tied on his old, beaten up converse. Grabbing his leather jacket, he shrugged it on and and slung his bag over his shoulder, saying a brief goodbye to his teacher before walking out the door.

 

  
He took a deep breath of the cold air, grateful to get out of the hot, sweaty-smelling building. That was the only part of dancing that he couldn’t handle was the reek of working for hours on end. Such was the smell of determination, he guessed.

 

  
Yuri pulled out his phone and scrolled through Instagram while he waited for his ride to get here. He noticed others from his class coming out the door and ignored them, pretending to be texting someone while leaning against the wall. He hated it whenever people tried making small talk with him. He knew that they were only doing it because they had nothing better to do or took pity on him for being a lone wolf.

 

  
Well, he thought of himself as more of a tiger, but that didn’t work with that expression.

 

  
There was a honk and he looked up to see Viktor waiting in his car, waving to him with his heart-shaped smile. “Yuri~! Pick up the pace, I have to go to work soon!”

 

  
Adjusting his bag, he climbed into the backseat, slamming the car door shut.

 

  
“Aw, Yuri! How come you never sit up here with me?” 

 

“Cause I’d rather not let people see us next to each other and assume we’re friends. Because we are not.”

 

  
Viktor pouted. “Don’t be that way, little kitten. You know you love me~!”

 

  
The teen sneered, rolling his eyes. “I’ve told you a thousand times to not call me that.” He leaned on his hand, ignoring Viktor’s attempts at a conversation and watching the scenery of the city pass as they sped by instead. “You can keep lying to yourself about me ‘loving you’ but I really don’t.”

 

  
Viktor simply grinned and hummed in mild disbelief.

 

  
The gentle hum of the car was making Yuri drowsy. It didn’t help that all of his practicing from earlier wore him out. At this point, he was fighting to keep his eyes open, knowing if he fell asleep then Viktor would take a picture of him which would lead to it being spread all over social media and he was not going to deal with a bunch of foaming fangirls just because he was tired.

 

  
The car stopped and Yuri sat up, groaning and stretching his arms above his head. They’d finally gotten to his house, thank god.

 

  
“We’re here, Yuri!” Viktor said, stating the obvious. “Your grandpa told me to watch you go in the house. He sure is protective, isn’t he?”

 

  
Yuri’s face flushed red. Jesus, he felt like he was in middle school all over again. “More like overbearing. I’m not a kid anymore.”

 

  
Viktor tsked. “You’re going to be a small little kiddie until you’re eighteen. Now get out. I have work, unlike you.” He tapped his chin in thought before an lightbulb practically appeared over his head. “Hey, you’re old enough to work now, you little sixteen year old. How about trying out for a position where I work? They’re hiring now if you’re interested.”

 

  
Yuri scoffed, but he actually wanted to know more. He was always up for something new. “I don’t even know where you work.”

 

  
“It’s that really popular cafe a couple of streets over. You could probably walk there if you wanted. It’s called Bean Queen. Know of it?”

 

  
“Oh that place,” Yuri said. Of course he knew that place, who didn’t? It was the one with the infamous blow-up snowman in the front that looked like it had seen to many holidays and not enough duct tape. Not to mention that it was constantly full and on weekends you would have to wait hours to get something to drink. They were worth it in the end though, or so he had heard.

 

  
“So, you want to try out for it?”

 

  
“Jesus, get off my dick! I’ll think about it!” Yuri barked, getting out of the car. “Hurry your ass up and get to work before you get fired.”

 

  
“So mean~! Okay, I’ll see you later, kitten!”

 

  
“DO NOT CALL ME THAT!” Yuri screeched, chasing after Viktor’s car before he could get out of the driveway. He was too late of course and watched the car zoom down the street.

 

  
“Fucking bastard,” Yuri muttered to himself. He laughed when he realized that Viktor didn’t even watch him go in the house like his grandpa asked him to. Someone was in major shit now.

 

  
“I’m home!” Yuri called out. He waited for a reply, but the house was silent. Perfect, he was home alone then. That meant his grandpa was staying late at work again.

 

  
Throwing his duffel bag on the floor of his bedroom, he sat down at his desk and popped in his earbuds. He grabbed his homework from his backpack and hunted for a pencil. It was stupid of him to leave off his homework for so long, but he could get all of it done in a few hours if he really tried.

 

  
With all his stuff done, he yawed and laid down on his bed. He could take a shower later, he didn’t really care.

 

  
♦

 

  
Yuri poked at his food, not feeling hungry at all. His grandpa was sitting across from him at the table, reading a newspaper and sipping on a cup of homemade tea. Yuri thought back to Viktor’s offer, suddenly finding it promising.

 

  
“Hey grandpa?”

 

  
He grunted in response, lowering his newspaper slightly.

 

  
“I was thinking about getting a job. You know that cafe a few streets over? Viktor told me they were hiring and I thought I might try out for it. What do you think?”

 

  
His grandpa hummed to himself, sighing before closing his newspaper and setting it on the table. “If you want to get a job, then go ahead. But, I don’t want to see a drop in your grades because of it. Juggling school, dancing, and a job seems like a bit much for you.”

 

  
Yuri shrugged, pouting and flicking a meatball with his fork. “I think I can handle it, don’t you think? Besides, it’s only going to be part-time.”  “I know that. If you said you were doing full-time I would smack you upside the head. No way you’d be able to handle that much work,” his grandpa chuckled.

 

  
Yuri smiled at his grandpa’s laughter. “Heh, yeah. So, does that mean I can?”

 

  
“Boy, I already said yes. Go by tomorrow and ask for an application and we’ll see how you do.”

 

  
Yuri nodded, oddly happy that he was going to get a job. Well, going to attempt to get a job. “Thank you, grandpa! I won’t let you down.”

 

  
The old man took a sip of his tea, opening his newspaper back up again. “I trust that you don’t. Now go do your homework or study. Something like that.”

 

  
“Okay,” Yuri said, not bothering to correct him. He’d already finished all his stuff ages ago. Instead, he was probably going to do a few more ballet exercises before hopping in the shower. Then he could have free time and browse the internet for hours.

 

  
Walking to his bedroom, he heard a meow at his feet. “Hey there, Levi,” Yuri said, bending down to stroke the cat’s back. She purred, rubbing against his leg lovingly. The cat was a purebred siberian forest cat and Yuri had her ever since she was a kit. The two of them were very close, seeing as Yuri was always either at home, the dance studio, or school.

 

  
Not that he didn’t have friends or anything. He just didn’t want to hang out with them. Or at least that’s what he constantly told himself.

 

  
Yuri stepped away from Levi, beckoning her to him with his hand. “C’mon, let’s go to my room.” The cat meowed, eagerly following the boy. Yuri pat her on the head and let her into his room before shutting the door. As soon as it was closed, she was pawing at it, begging to be let out.

 

  
“You little shit. If you didn’t want to be in here, then you shouldn’t have followed,” he complained, cracking the door open for her. He closed it again only to hear her pawing at it again, meowing loudly. “Dammit, make up your mind, stupid.”

 

  
Leaving the door slightly open, the teen sat on the ground, starting his warmups. The whole time he was doing it, Levi kept getting in his way, climbing all over him and even managing to climb her way onto his head.

 

  
“Levi! Cut that out, I’m trying to focus!” The cat swiped at him with her paw, not hard enough to break skin, but enough to hurt. “Dammit, stop!” Yuri barked, grabbing the cat off his head and looking her in the face.

 

  
Levi looked at him with an innocent look, acting as if she did nothing wrong. Yuri sighed, letting her go and watching as she darted under his bed. “Keep it up and you’re sleeping outside, you little shit.”

 

  
♦

 

  
Yuri yawned widely, adjusting his scarf around his neck. It was too damn early and cold to be awake right now, but Viktor told him over text that he better be early if he didn’t want to get trampled by the morning rush.

 

  
By early he didn’t know that Viktor meant before the goddamn sun was even up.

 

  
Grumbling to himself, he kicked a rock along the sidewalk, shoving his hands deep in his jacket. God, he was freezing out here. He knew that this jacket was too thin, but that wasn’t going to stand in his way of fashion. Even so, style wasn’t good enough if he ended up with hypothermia because of it.

 

  
He pulled out his phone, looking at the directions. Yeah, this was the street. He glanced in the windows of all the stores, looking at all the trinkets they were selling. Some of them Yuri would actually buy if the stores weren’t closed.

 

  
Finally, he got to the right building with the same snowman he passed by every day on his way to school. The display window was empty, but he noticed a girl inside carrying tray of what looked like freshly baked pastries and pies coming towards him. She started putting all of the trays of sweets onto their displays with a dead-tired look on her face, not even noticing Yuri standing outside.

 

  
Yuri awkwardly knocked on the window, startling the girl so much that she almost dropped all of the food. Making eye contact, she looked surprised before the expression was replaced with extreme irritation. Rolling her eyes, she set down the pastries and opened the cafe door.

 

  
“Sir, we aren’t open yet, so please go home or find another place for coffee or whatever it is you want. Thanks, have a great day!” she ended, slamming the door shut with a huff.

 

  
Yuri was admittedly taken aback. How many bad mornings had this chick had to act like that?

 

  
Getting over his shock, he kicked the front door with his toe, pissed off at that lady for being so rude. She didn’t even care to know ask he was knocking. It’s not like there was a sign in the window saying ‘HIRING’ or something like that! Now he was going to be a bit more forceful to get this girl’s attention.

 

  
She opened the door again, almost smacking Yuri in the face with it. “Listen, dude! I know it’s early in the morning and you’re tired, but that doesn’t mean you can just go around banging on our door and-“

 

  
“Be quiet, lady,” Yuri said, cutting her off. “I’m here to apply for a position, not to get yelled at for getting up at the crack of dawn to do so. My stupid cousin Viktor told me to come at this time, so I’m not too happy either. Either give me a form or I’m leaving.”

 

  
The girl’s mood suddenly took a full 180 and she gave him a wide smile. “Oh! So you’re the boy that Viktor was telling me all about yesterday!” Yuri twitched his eyebrow in irritation when she referred to him as ‘boy’. “No need to fill out a form, you can come on inside I’ll just go ahead and ask you a few questions. And if all goes well and I don’t hate you too much, then we can discuss the shifts you’ll take.”

 

  
Yuri stepped inside, accidentally letting a sigh loose when he was hit with a blast of heat. Now his clothes were too damn hot. He unwrapped his scarf from around his neck and tried to ball it up in his pocket, but ended up letting the end spill out. Huh, that didn’t look too bad actually. He smelt a new fashion trend coming.

 

  
“So, Yuri was it?” the lady said, pulling a chair out for him to sit in. He sat down tiredly, crossing his legs and resting his face on his hand.

 

  
“Yeah.”

 

  
“My name’s Yuuko. I’m the daughter of the owner of this good ol’ place, so I’ve been assigned the duty as manager. If you have any questions, you can go ahead and ask me them, okie dokie?”

 

  
Grimacing slightly at her go-happy attitude, he nodded. Was she bipolar or something?

 

  
“Okay, I’m going to ask you a couple of things about yourself and your intentions in life and all that jazz. Ready?”

 

  
Thirty minutes laterwhen the sun was just starting to show its face, Yuuko pushed back her chair and stretched her arms over her head. “I think that’s enough questions don’t you think?”

 

Yuri scoffed. “Considering you started diving into my love life, I could agree.”

 

  
Yuuko laughed, waving her hand sheepishly. “Can you blame me? I’m a hopeless romantic, but only for those other than me. Besides, I’m already married with three beautiful brats I call daughters,” she says, holding up her hand to display the silver ring on her hand.

 

  
She looked down at her wristwatch and smiled. “Good timing! Some of our other employees will be coming in soon. You’ll be able to meet them if you’d like.”

 

  
Yuri simply shrugged uncaringly. “I don’t see why not.”

 

  
Just then, there was the sound of the back door slamming shut and a person groaning loudly. “Ugh, winter may look aesthetic in pictures, but as soon as I’m in it, then it can kiss my ass,” came a voice from behind the counter.

 

  
Leaning against the register was a guy that looked a few years older than he was. His skin was a dark tan and his eyes were deep chestnut color that sparkled in the light. His hair was short for the most part, with a fringe that just barely reached his eyebrows. The guy pushed back his pitch black hair with one of his hands and looked at Yuri with curiosity.

 

  
“Yuuko, who’s this cute little boy over here?”

 

  
Yuri sputtered incoherently. Cute little boy?!

 

  
“He’s Yuri! He’s the second person to try out for one of our open positions.”

 

  
“Yeah, and who’re you calling pretty boy, punk?”

 

  
The guy laughed. “Oh nothing~! Anyways, my name’s Phichit! It’ll be nice working with you!”

 

  
Yuri scoffed, giving Phichit an exasperated look. “I don’t even know if I got the job yet, stupid. Besides, no one who knows me calls spending time with me ‘nice’ unless if sarcastic.”

 

  
“Don’t be such a downer, Yuri!” Yuuko said, patting the teen on the back enthusiastically. “I’m sure everyone will love you, even if your personality is a bit… Brash?” she said in an almost questioning manner.

 

  
“Wait, does that mean I got the job?”

 

  
Yuuko paused before laughing at herself. “I guess you can say you did if I’m already welcoming you as an employee! Welcome to our small little family, Yuri! We’ll have to discuss shift times later since we are opening soon and there’s still a whole lot for us to do in order to be ready for the customers.” Yuuko turned to Phichit. “Do you know where Viktor and the other new guy is? They should be here by now.”

 

  
Phichit shrugged. “I dunno. Yuuri probably overslept like he always does around this time of the year. I can’t blame him. I found it hard parting with my own bed this morning, too.”

 

  
Yuri narrowed his eyes and was very obviously freaked out. “What was that about me? That’s not even true, stupid.”

 

  
Phichit looked confused before it clicked and his eyes opened in realization. “Yuuko! Why do both of the newbies have the same name? That’s so weird, yet funny!”

 

  
“Oh! I just realized that!” Yuuko laughed. “I’ll have to give you different shifts so that there won’t be any name confusion. Here, give me your phone, Yuri. I’m going to go ahead and put in my contact information so you won’t have to.”

 

  
Yuri handed her his phone and blushed when she started fawning over his tiger phone case. “Cut it out and just give me your number.” His new manager pouted, typing in the information and giving the phone back.

 

  
“Okay, so I’ll text you later today and schedule this stuff with you. Have a nice day, Yuri!”

 

  
And with that, Yuri was back outside in the cold wind. He grumbled, wrapping his scarf back around his neck and heading back home. Since he didn’t really have anything else planned for today, he might as well go to the dance studio. There was no such thing as too much practice in his mind.

 

  
The happiness only hit him when he got back to his house and shed his scarf and jacket on his bed. Dropping himself on the mattress, he looked up at the ceiling and grinned to himself.

 

  
He’s got his own job now. Hell. Fucking. Yeah.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri meets and makes friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post a day early. I still don't have chapter 3 ready yet so it might take me a while.

Yuuko _: Hello, Yuri! Are you awake still? We had to close shop late tonight because we got too crowded._

 

Yuri _: yeah im up._

 

Yuuko _: Great! So have you been thinking about what times would work best for you?_

Yuri _: wednesdays and weekends i wont be able to do. And for the other days i can work from four until however long you want._

Yuuko _: Sounds perfectly fine! How about we have you work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays? All of them from 4-7 except for Friday where you’ll be able to leave thirty minutes early._

 

Yuri _: thats fine_

Yuuko _: Great! We’ll see you next week on Monday. Later!_

 

♦

 

Yuri groaned, throwing his head back and banging it again the lamppost he was leaning against. His damn bus was late like it always was and his grandpa already left for work so he couldn’t ask him for a ride. Viktor already told him he had work, so Yuri was stuck freezing his ass to a pole.

 

The angry teenager rolled his shoulder, grimacing when it popped three times in a single roll. Apparently a week off wasn’t enough time for his body to heal from a fifty-pound backpack. It was because of all his damn AP classes that he had to haul four textbooks around all day.

 

Just when he thought his back was going to snap in half, he heard the bus coming around the corner. God, he was going to beat the driver’s ass into the ground some day. 

 

It hissed to a stop in front of him and the creaky doors swung open. Climbing up the stairs, he wrinkled his nose at the disgusting smell that attacked his senses. Jesus, did someone vomit in here and the driver just forgot to clean it up? Ugh, lazy pig.

 

He threw his bag down in a seat before plopping down with a huff. As soon as the bus started moving, he could feel the usual drowsiness hit him. He groaned, forcing his eyelids open. He hated cars or any moving vehicle. Every time he was in one, he always fell asleep within a minute at least. 

 

But before his eyes could slip shut, the bus stopped again. Yuri wasn’t paying enough attention to realize that this was the stop where his _fanboy_ was.

 

“Heya, Yuri!” a loud, high-pitched voice practically yelled in his ear. Yuri jumped with a yelp, caught off guard by his ‘friend’ Minami.

 

Minami was a year older than him, but acted like he was still a freshman. How the kid managed to retain his innocence for so long was a mystery to Yuri, but it probably had something to do with his constant, non-stop optimism. He had dirty blonde hair with a red streak he had dyed in the front years ago and kept ever since then. His brown eyes were always sparkling with excitement and he had two pointed teeth that he could never seem to keep in his mouth, especially when he was smiling. And by that, he meant constantly. 

 

“Christ, tone it down before you destroy my eardrums,” Yuri barked angrily.

 

Minami pouted, fiddling with his fingers. “Sorry, Yuri. I was just so happy to see you after so long!”

 

Yuri sighed, face palming himself. “It has been a week, Minami. A. Week. Do you have abandonment issues or are you just clingy?”

 

“Hmm… Probably both. I don’t really know. I just like hanging out with you!”

 

“Yeah, well you would be the first,” Yuri grumbled, facing out the window to once again escape a conversation. Not that him ignoring Minami would make the kid shut up for two seconds. He kept blabbing even when Yuri showed no signs of listening.

 

When the bus finally pulled up into the school parking lot, Yuri was thankful to finally part ways with Minami, making some excuse about having to talk to a teacher. The seventeen year old tried to come with, but Yuri shot him down and walked away before the other could even try to follow him.

 

Strolling through the hallways to his first class of the day, Yuri rolled his neck, popping it two times in one go. Ugh, he was so tense lately. He must have been slacking off on his stretches. 

 

He sat down in his desk, throwing his backpack under the chair. Resting his head on the desk, he shivered at the cold classroom temperature, pulling in his hoodie closer to his form. The only other person in this classroom aside from him was some guy in the far front that he hadn’t ever noticed before.  Not that it was surprising, considering he didn’t give his classmates a second thought when they introduced themselves to him.

 

The only thing he could tell from the guy was that he had short black hair in the style of an undercut and lightly tanned skin. Aside from that, this guy _obviously_ did not care about his appearance, seeing as he was wearing a disgusting blue t-shirt (it was winter, what was this guy thinking?!) and plain jeans. Yuri wanted to rip those dirty, ratty tennis shoes off the person’s feet and burn them in a fire. 

 

Apparently the guy could feel him staring and whipped around, giving him a death stare. It took all of Yuri’s willpower not to jump in surprise, quickly adverting his eyes from the guy. That wasn’t enough for the other, seeing as Yuri could feel the guy’s eyes burning on the side of his head. 

 

He finally looked away and Yuri let go of a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. More people started trickling into the classroom, holding cups of coffee and trudging to their seats. 

 

As usual, a flock of what Minami liked to call his ‘fan-girls’ came to his desk to try and force him into a conversation. They all talked very animatedly, leaning all over his desktop and pressing their tits together with their arms in an attempt to get his attention. Like always, Yuri ignored them, but was _very_ annoyed at their antics.

 

See, the whole reason he had these girls tailing after him was because he had skipped his freshman year and was deemed ‘sexy’ by most people in the school, including some guys. Those two things combined made him into a chick magnet, and thus the ‘Yuri’s Angels’ was born, dedicated to making his day as difficult as possible just so they could get some fan service to post online. 

 

He grimaced, remembering the time when it got out that he did ballet. Suddenly massive waves of girls wearing cat ear headbands and frilly tutus were swarming him during passing periods, asking when his next concert was. 

 

Instead of giving the girls any part of his attention, he stared out the window, looking at the grey clouds in the distance. Maybe it would snow later. 

 

Yuri felt someone staring at him again and looked around the room before locking eyes with the same guy as before. The guy’s face flushed and he quickly looked away, hunching over the work he was doing and writing furiously. 

 

Wait, was he getting flustered at him? The hell?

 

Yuri’s line of sight was blocked by all of the girls getting up in his face, screaming about him liking someone. Wait, where’d they get from?

 

“Oh my gosh, are you and Otabek dating?!” Ensue the usual ear-splitting, inhuman screeching. “Or maybe it’s an unrequited love. Judi, imagine it! Think of all the fanfictions I could write.”

 

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “Who the fuck is Otabek?”

 

The girl looked surprised at being talked to by him, too flustered at making eye contact with her role model to actually answer. Another girl answered for her. “You know, the guy you were looking at not even a minute ago?”

 

Yuri made a ‘pft’ sound with his mouth. “I’ve never even seen that guy before in my life. Stop jumping to conclusions, idiots.”

 

Either the girls didn’t hear his insult or it didn’t effect them because they all exploded into a symphony of fangirling. Yuri pulled his hood over his head, trying to make the sounds less painful. Jesus fucking christ, did they all swallow a balloon or something?

 

The day passed and it was relatively usual as always. And as always, he desperately avoided his fan club like the plague after school. They were probably going to try and wrestle cat ears on him like they usually did. They never succeeded before, and he wasn’t ever going to let them. How bad would it be for his reputation if that were to spread on the internet?

 

He managed to get to the parking lot without running into a group of thirsty girls and scanned for Viktor’s car. The silver-haired man had agreed to drop him off at _Bean Queen_ since he was going in the same direction to get to one of his college classes. 

 

Behind him, he heard a pack of fangirls, screaming to ‘charge’. Not even looking back, he ran through the parking lot (almost getting hit by two cars), swung open Viktor’s car door, and threw himself inside, panting. That was faster than he had ever run in gym class. 

 

“Hello, Yuri!” Viktor purred. “An eventful day as usual, I can see. I’m dropping you off at _Bean Queen_ , correct?”

 

The blonde nodded, still catching his breath. “Yeah, and hurry it up before those chicks try to attack your car like last time.”

 

Viktor frowned, pressing harder on the gas pedal, muttering something under his breath that sounded something along the lines of ‘not again, not doing that shit ever again’. Yuri chuckled to himself, leaning against the window like he always did. 

 

Dammit, he was starting to doze off again.

 

Viktor was going on about something in the front seat, rambling about some guy he had met yesterday at work. For once, Yuri decided to actually tune into Viktor’s one-sided conversation.

 

“You mean the other Yuri?”

 

Viktor nodded wildly. Yuri knew his hands would be gesturing all over the place if it weren’t for the fact he was driving. “Yeah! He’s so cute, I just wish I could hug him! Though, that would be a little awkward, you know? He seems tense around me, but I really hope we get to be friends. Or you know… Something more,” Viktor grinned, shaking his shoulders up in down in a suggestive way.

 

“Ew, keep me out of your love life. It’s even weirder when the guy has the same damn name as me.”

 

“Hm… It would get a little confusing, wouldn’t it?” Viktor tilted his head in thought before his eyes lit up and he sprouted a heart-shaped smile “I know! Your new name will now be Yurio!”

 

Yuri smacked Viktor upside the head. “You are _not_ called me that.”

 

Viktor pouted. “Stop that unless if you want to go crashing into some poor old lady’s antique shop. Besides, I thought it was cute.”

 

Yuri sneered. “Your definition of cute must be warped then cause that was just repulsive. If you want cute, then get a cat.”

 

“Dogs are better you know~!”

 

“Viktor, I do not care if you are driving because I will throw you right out of this car if you even try to win this argument with me.”

 

♦

 

Yuri knocked on the back door of the cafe, shivering in the cold. A particularly violent gust of wind blew by and Yuri wished whoever was in there would hurry up and let him in. He tugged on the handle and almost fell on his ass when someone opened it for him.

 

“Oh! Sorry about that!” the person apologized. “You’re the new guy, right? Yuri?”

 

“Yeah. Now can I come in or should I stay out here and get hypothermia?”

 

“Ah, yes, sorry about that,” the person apologized again, holding the door open for him. Now that he wasn’t occupied keeping his ass from falling off, he looked at the guy who let him in.

 

The first thing he noticed was that this guy was short. That was saying something considering Yuri himself was 163 centimeters. He had wavy, light brown hair and dark eyes that reflected nothing but innocence. The end of his nose and his cheeks had splashes of freckles and his appearance reminded Yuri of a gerbil.

 

Yuri peered at the other’s name tag. “Guang Hong, right?”

 

The guy nodded, seemingly surprised that he had pronounced his name right. “Mm-hm! You can just call me Guang if you want. Or Ji, but that’s mostly reserved for Leo. Oh! Here, let me introduce you to everyone else,” he said, grabbing Yuri’s wrist before he could pull away. For being so small, he sure had one hell of a grip.

 

“Guys, Yuri is here!”

 

Two other guys were working behind the counter. Luckily there wasn’t many people in the cafe at the time except for a couple sipping on their drinks and an elderly woman flipping through her book. The other two employees looked at Yuri, one of them giving him a welcoming smile and the other simply nodding.

 

The first one had medium-length brown hair parted down the middle with thick eyebrows. His skin was tan and Yuri could tell that he was at the very least _part_ Mexican. But over all, he wasn’t very memorable in Yuri’s opinion. Then again, when was anyone ever?

 

As for the second one, he looked _way_ too familiar for them not to have met before. He had an undercut and cold, dark eyes with an unreadable face. He knew this guy, but from where?

 

“Hey there, Yuri! I’m Leo, it’s nice to meet you. Welcome to _Bean Queen_ ,” the first guy said cheerfully, holding out a hand. 

 

Yuri looked down at the offered hand before slapping it away. “It’s a pleasure.”

 

“U-um, okay then,” Guang Hong said, taken aback at Yuri’s action. “And the other guy lurking by the coffee machine is Otabek! He doesn’t really talk much.”

 

The guy nodded at him again and Yuri returned it. Otabek… Fucking hell, it was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't remember where he’d seen this guy before…

 

And then it clicked.

 

“Holy shit, you’re the guy in my first hour that was staring at me.”

 

Otabek’s cheeks flushed lightly and he glared at Yuri. “I caught you staring at me first.”

 

Yuri crossed his arms and stepped closer. “I wasn’t looking at you.”

 

Otabek took a step. “Yeah you were. I could feel your stare for at least five minutes.”

 

“Guys, guys, let’s calm down now!” Leo said, standing between the two men before they started a fight. Both were staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. “Here, the afternoon rush is about to come in a minute and those croissants are almost finished cooking. Otabek, could you go check on them for me please while I get Yuri started on the basics?”

 

Giving Yuri one more glare, he nodded before leaving to where the ovens were. Leo and Guang Hong sighed in relief. 

 

“Oof, that was close.”

 

“Hey, Yuri,” Guang Hong started. “Let’s try not to start fights here, okay? Yuuko would kick our butts if she found out there was an argument during work hours.”

 

Yuri tsked. “Whatever you say, gerbil.” 

 

Guang Hong blushed a crimson shade of red and cleared his throat. “O-okay, let’s get started on teaching you how to work the register.”

 

The next few hours were awkward as hell for Yuri. Working the register was obviously not his forte because of his lack of people skills and permanent scowl. Apparently, when you are talking to a customer, you have to act optimistic to them, not like they killed your entire family and your there to get revenge. 

 

Leo was in charge of hovering over Yuri’s shoulder, making sure he was doing everything correctly. It was irritating at first, but he imagined it like he was a part of his fan club and suddenly he was a lot easier to ignore. 

 

After the fourth scared off customer, Guang Hong decided it was time to try out a new station. 

 

“Yuri, let me ask. Which station would you find the most comforting?” Guang Hong asked.

 

Yuri looked around the cafe and his eyes landed on the coffee machine. “I can make tea and some types of coffee.”

 

Guang Hong smiled at Yuri’s cooperation. “Excellent! Then I’m going to put you in charge of making drinks for the rest of today. If you better than you did at the register, then we will go ahead and let you stay there.”

 

“That won’t be hard,” Otabek teased, cleaning up one of the tables. 

 

“Shut up, bastard,” Yuri sneered.

 

It was needless to say that Yuri preferred making tea and coffee rather than chatting up with people at the register. In fact, some people had even complimented him for his drinks. Some of them were really red in the face for some reason. Must’ve been from the cold outside.

 

Finally, the clock struck seven and it was the end of Yuri’s shift. Wiping down his station, he stretched his arms over his head, yawning widely. When he got home, he still had to practice his ballet routine and do his homework. He sighed, taking off his apron and hanging it up on a coat rack.

 

“I’m heading out!” he called to the other employees, grabbing his backpack.

 

“Have a good night, Yuri! See you tomorrow!” Leo said, handing a lady her drink.

 

Yuri didn’t respond and walked out, almost slipping on the ice in the alleyway. He was right, it had snowed. Walking carefully as to not get snow in his shoes, he made it onto the main street and started heading in the direction of snow. He sneezed loudly, wiping his nose. He would have to ask his grandpa to pick him up next time.

 

Once he got home, a wild ball of fur ran to greet him, meowing loudly for attention while pawing at Yuri’s leg. He bent down to pick up the cat, rubbing her head with his pointer finger. “You miss me?” She meowed a yes. “You’re so clingy.”

 

Grabbing some fruit from the kitchen, he closed himself in his room and pulled his homework from his bag. Taking a bite from one of the apples he had gotten, he sat down and quickly worked his way through the work. Levi curled up in his lap, purring quietly as she napped. While Yuri worked, he petted her absentmindedly, humming to himself as he worked out math equations.

 

With his work finished and food eaten, he got down on the floor and started warming up. He reached for his toes, going far enough to touch the floor in front of it. If there was one thing people in his ballet were jealous of, it was definitely Yuri’s flexibility.

 

Dropping into a split, he once again reached for his toes. After he switched his legs, he heard the front door slam shut. Yuri got up and went to greet him, saving his stretches for later.

 

Yuri’s grandpa was hanging up his scarf on the coat each next to the door, barking at someone over the phone. He looked extremely stressed and Yuri felt a pang of pity. After another minute of his grandpa yelling, he finally snapped his ancient flip phone shut, pinching his eyebrows in frustration.

 

“I take it work was stressful today?”

 

“Understatement of the year,” his grandpa said gruffly. “Do me a favor and make me some tea?”

 

Yuri nodded, not bothering to say that he had been doing that all afternoon. Putting the kettle on the lit stove, he grabbed a chipped mug from the cabinet. “Hey, grandpa! Where’d you put the tea leaves?”

 

“Above the fridge!”

 

“Thanks!”

 

Pouring the tea carefully, he carried the mug to his grandpa. He was sitting in the living room, practically melding into the overly stuffed reading chair. The TV illuminated the dark room, playing some romantic movie that Yuri didn’t care much for. 

 

The old man took the cup from Yuri, mumbling a very tired ‘thank you’. Yuri nodded, taking a seat next to him. The room was absolutely freezing so he pulled out a blanket from the basket behind the couch, wrapping himself up in it. 

 

He didn’t pay attention to a second of the movie, but it was nice to be with his grandpa for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I still haven't come to terms with the fact that there's no new episode tomorrow. ;~; Oh well, all good things must come to an end eventually, even if I didn't want it to.
> 
> (Besides, we might get a second season and if we don't then bye I'm flying off the cliff.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating but school has gotten in my way and I haven't had access to the computer in forever. So take this for now.

“I’m telling you, Yuri. He’s my muse.”

 

Yuri simply rolled his eyes. “You’ve told me this multiple times, Viktor. Haven’t you only known the guy for like, what, two days?”

 

Viktor waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah, but there’s this _bond_ there, you know? Like, he’s my soulmate or something,” he said dreamily.

 

“I think you’re over exaggerating. Again. Like you always do.”

 

Viktor tsked, shaking his head. “Ah, I knew you wouldn’t get it. You youngin’ ones.”

 

“Yeah, hard to believe I wouldn’t understand your weird obsession over a guy you’ve hardly known for a day and your current stalker-status mode.”

 

“What?! Asking for his Instagram username isn’t stalkerish! Though, I do wish he would update it more,” Viktor pouted. 

 

“Creepy. I bet you scrolled all the way to the bottom and liked everything there, didn’t you?”

 

“…”

 

“Knew it.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, now get out of my car,” Viktor said, parking in front of the cafe. “You’re so mean, _Yura_. Maybe I’ll just have to return the Christmas gift I got for you back to the store-“

 

“If it’s that cool ass cheetah-print jacket that I saw the other day, then don’t you dare. If not, do what you want.” Yuri pulled up his hood before stepping out of the car, slinging his backpack on. “Thanks for the ride.”

 

Viktor brightened up. “No problem, little kitten~!”

 

“Never mind, go throw yourself in a ditch.”

 

Viktor just laughed and Yuri slammed the car door shut with a slam. Yuri watched Viktor drive down the street, giving his car a little wave.

 

Stupid lovesick fool. The other Yuuri should get a restraining order on Viktor while he still can. 

 

Walking through the front entrance, he was greeted enthusiastically by Leo and Guang Hong. Otabek made direct eye contact with him before giving him the slightest nod of the head. For some ungodly reason, Yuri felt his face flush before nodding back, tearing his eyes away and heading to the back to get his apron from off the hook.

 

Trying the string around his waist, he turned around and jumped three feet in the air when Guang Hong suddenly appeared behind him, holding a pastry on a small platter.

 

“Oh!” Guang Hong gasped. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” He held up the plate, offering it to Yuri. “We made you a treat to welcome you. Well, Otabek was the one who made it, but Leo and I helped a little bit. Sorry we didn’t give it to you yesterday. Oh, and it’s on the house. Don’t worry about paying for it.”

 

Yuri took the plate from the small man, nodding gratefully. “Er, thanks? What is it exactly?”

 

“Ah, I keep forgetting that you haven’t memorized the menu yet. It’s a _croissant amandes._ It’s basically like an almond croissant with almond flavored _frangipane_ on the inside. It’s really, really good! Especially when Otabek makes them. Try it!”

 

Setting the plate down, Yuri took a bite of the pastry. His eyes widened and he froze, chewing it slowly.

 

“O-Oh, do you not like it?”

 

“Holy shit this is good,” Yuri murmured before wolfing down the rest of it in just a few bites. 

 

Guang Hong laughed. “You should probably thank Otabek, you know.”

 

Yuri grimaced, clearly expressing ‘I would really rather not’. 

 

Guang Hong pouted, even going as far as to sticking out his lower lip. “C’mon, Yuri! You can’t stay mad at him forever. What was it you two were even mad about?”

 

“I caught the bastard staring at me in my class and he wants to say that it was _me_ staring at _him_.”

 

The small man snorted and Yuri gave him a questioning look. “You guys are like this because you were checking each other out?”

 

If Yuri was blushing beforehand, then he was a full-blown tomato at this point. In less than a second, he his entire face burning red all the way down to his neck. He sputtered wildly, not even able to form complete words. His hands were waving all over the place to the point it looked like he was about to fly away from the situation.

 

Guang Hong was laughing to the point of tears, clutching at his stomach. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean it!”

 

“Guang Hong?” Leo called from up by the register. “What’s going on back there? The rush is going to start any second and we need all men on deck!”

 

“Coming!” Guang Hong yelled back. “Well, you heard him. Let’s go.”

 

The two of them walked up to the front of the store and Yuri glared at the growing line. Jesus Christ, he hoped he could remember how to make all the drinks. Hopefully they all just wanted some black coffee and not some overly complicated latte.

 

Yeah, what was he even doing thinking that optimistically.

 

Twenty-three overly-complicated drinks made later, someone tapped on Yuri’s shoulder, jerking him out of the daze he’d fallen into. He turned around, face-to-face with a person he had never seen before in his entire life.

 

First of all, there were two people behind the counter that he _just_ now noticed. If he looked closely, he could see eerie similarities between the two of them. Twins maybe?

 

The girl tapped on his shoulder again, clearing her throat. She had long, dark black hair that stopped right at the arch of her back and she had… Purple-ish looking eyes. Was she wearing contacts? Her skin was a rich tan and her lips were plump with a shiny coat of lip gloss.

 

“Heya, Yuri right?” she said, giving him a small wave. “Sorry that we couldn’t meet you yesterday! My brother and I had some family issues we needed to take care of.” Yuri noticed her tone darken towards the end. “Oh, that’s him back there, if you haven’t figured it out yet.”

 

Yuri looked back at the man she was gesturing to that he glanced at earlier. He had light brown hair as opposed to his sister’s raven colored locks and had the same purple eyes (how could those be natural?!) and was currently handing an old woman a buttered croissant. 

 

“His name’s Michele,” she whispered. “Oh yeah, and I’m Sara. Nice working with you!” 

 

She stuck out her hand and Yuri clasped it in his own, giving it a very lazy, half-assed shake. “Yeah, sure.”

 

“Yuri!” Leo said, passing him a receipt with an order written on it. “We need a chai tea from you. Actually, er… We need three. Yeah, that’s right.”

 

Yuri rolled his eyes. “To go or for here?”

 

“Here. All three are small sized.”

 

“Aye aye, captain,” Yuri said, pulling three cups out of the cabinet from above his head. He heard Sara hum to herself behind him.

 

“Well, I should go check on the quiches that are cooking in the oven. If you ever come here for lunch, you should try one. They’re super good.”

 

Yuri thought back to the almond croissant from before. Maybe he would come here for lunch some time. Before he could say a word about it to Sara, though, she had already sauntered back to the kitchen.

 

With three cups of chai teas ready, he sprinkled on a bit of cinnamon to the tops before setting them on the counter for the customers to pick up. He had no time to rest though, seeing as while he was making those, Guang Hong gave him three more orders to take care of. 

 

The teenager rolled his neck and groaned. Man, he felt bad for the guys in charge of the morning rush hour. That must be total hell. No wonder Yuuko got so pissy with him when he knocked on the window that one time.

 

_“Well,”_ Yuri thought to himself, washing off some of the dirty glasses handed to him by Michele, _“At least I won’t have to deal with all this shit tomorrow.”_

 

♦

 

Something Yuri liked about this particular dance studio was that people tended to leave him alone when it came to practice. Hell, they even gave him his own _barre_ to practice with. Well, it wasn’t given to him. Just labelled as his so that others wouldn’t touch it.

 

Wrapping his hands around the cool metal bar, he leaned over and kept his upper body horizontal while stretching his legs into a perfect line. He took deep breaths, willing himself to relax with each one. He switched legs, repeating his breathing pattern. 

 

He couldn’t help but tsk at himself when he felt the muscles in his thighs burn from the strain. Skipping out on stretching for two nights in a row was not a good decision on his part. 

 

Very slowly as to not accidentally pull a muscle, Yuri pulled his torso upwards, arching his back as far as he could go. His body ached, but Yuri kept pushing until his muscles eventually stopped burning with fiery pain. He lowered his leg gently, releasing the tension with a sigh.

 

Keeping his hand firm on the _barre,_ he sucked in a breath before pointing one of his feet, lifting himself into the air by s few inches. Before he could lose his balance, he stretched his leg out behind him and lifted an arm up over his head. He held the position for thirty seconds before he felt his foot wobbling from under he weight. Finally, he relaxed out of the position for a few seconds before resuming. He would swing his body into place, relax, swing back, relax, repeat.

 

Swinging his leg up onto the bar, he reached out for his toes. Then, he did the splits with the bar and then without. He went through every exercise he could think of. When his body was loose and he felt properly stretched, he took the center of the smooth, wooden dance floor. He had on his old, worn ballet slippers, deciding to practice point toe later on.

 

Naturally falling into first position, he started with basic moves he learned when he had first started dancing. Keeping his foot flat on the ground, he pointed his leg up behind him, outstretching his arms in front of his chest in an arch. He quickly brought his leg down, using the momentum to spring forward and spin in pirouette. He counted twelve spins before his speed wasn’t enough to keep him going. He ended with his arms curved inwards to his chest, a single leg pointing its toe with his other foot flat on the ground.

 

He bit his thumb in thought. That could do with some work. His spins were sloppy and he almost lost his balance towards the end. Maybe he could-

 

Yuri was brought out of his thoughts from the sound of loud, excessive clapping coming from behind him. Considering that he was here early and there was hardly anyone even here yet, Yuri was caught off guard. Spinning on the heel of his foot, he finally noticed Minami standing by the door.

 

How distracted did a person have to be to not see the bright red streak of Minami’s hair? _Especially_ when the entire room was covered in mirrors?

 

“That was so beautiful, Yuri!” Miami cheered, still clapping his hands. The smaller boy strolled to the blonde teenager, his tap shoes clicking loudly on the floor.

 

Yuri frowned at Minami’s compliment. “You’re too easily impressed.”

 

Minami wagged his finger at the other boy, shaking his head. “Or, have you ever considered that you’re too hard on yourself?”

 

Yuri couldn’t help but laugh at that, earning him a pout from Minami. “Yeah right. There’s no such thing as being too hard on myself. That’s the only way to get things accomplished.”

 

“Yeah, but too much of it could make you break under all the pressure.”

 

“Or you were too weak to handle it and should just quit if you aren’t able to keep up.”

 

Minami gasped, covering his mouth in an offended manner. “Yuri, don’t be so mean! Would you like it if someone said that to you? Would you just quit?”

 

He shrugged, blowing a strand of his hair back into place. “Of course not. Instead, I would shove their words back into their filthy, lying mouths and prove the little shit wrong.”

 

Minami was about to retort something back at him when they were both distracted by someone coming in through the door. Yuri felt his mouth open and he felt like he was in a dream.

 

The same haircut. Same brown, unreadable eyes. Same mouth pulled into a permanent frown.

 

“Oh my fucking God, are you stalking me now?”

 

Otabek’s expression made no changes except for his eyebrow twitching only a fraction. 

 

Minami slapped Yuri’s arm. “Ow! What the hell was that for?!”

 

The boy just shook his head, sighing loudly. “He’s been in your class for forever, Yuri! And he’s really, really good too!” Miami’s face flushed a dark red when he realized what he said and a strangled noise tried to claw its way out of his throat. It sounded like a mix of a smoker’s yelling and a tire wheel screeching on the road.

 

Otakbek’s face still didn’t change. “Thanks.”

 

And with that, he casually side-stepped the other two, squeezing his way past them and setting his bag down by the cubbies. He picked up his practice clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Once he was out of sight, Minami exploded with half-suppressed screams, grabbing Yuri by the shoulders and shaking him violently.

 

“OhmygodI’msoembarrasseddidIseriouslysaythatinfrontofhim-“

 

Yuri pushed Minami away from him, cutting off the other’s rapid fire of unintelligible rambling. “Get off of me, idiot! He didn’t even care, stop your panicking!”

 

“But he could be judging me silently!” he lowered his tone, leaning in closer to Yuri and whispering, “I can never tell what he’s thinking. He probably thinks I’m some sort of stalker creep now!”

 

Yuri laughed. “If you haven’t noticed, you kind of are.”

 

Minami gasped in mock pain. “Wow, such accusations! For your information, I just happen to be observant of others!”

 

“So a low-key stalker?”

 

Minami pouted, stomping his foot on the ground in frustration. “No! Stop that!”

 

Yuri shook his head, turning back to his previous position. First Viktor, and now Minami. Everyone’s a stalker nowadays. “You’re in denial. Hurry up and get to your group. Lilia is almost here and you know how pissy she can get.”

 

Minami visibly paled before running off, giving Yuri a brief goodbye as his feet clacked noisily on the hard floor. Yuri laughed lightly before turning away to the front of the room. 

 

Facing the front mirror of the room, he practiced simple pirouettes, spinning gracefully without fail. He felt uncomfortable being in the room with no one other that Ota-fuck, but it wasn’t long before other students in his class came into the room, making it slightly-less awkward.

 

One of them (unfortunately) being Jean Jacques Leroy. Or otherwise known as JJ, seeing as he will remind you of it every other second. 

 

Yuri was in the middle of a spin when he felt two rather large hands wrap around his waist, lifting him into the air with a twirl. The teenage boy yelled, kicking his legs into the person’s stomach before he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, landing with a loud thud. There was laughter behind him and Yuri looked at JJ with a venomous glare. 

 

JJ wiped a fake tear from his eye, still catching his breath. “Wow, Yuri! You’ve got quite a kick there. Not just a pretty face, huh?”

 

Yuri scrambled to his feet, clenching his fist and stopping only inches from JJ’s face. God, he wanted to hit the narcissistic grin off the poser’s face. “Touch me again, you fucking Canadian douchebag, and I will personally end you with my own hands.”

 

The threat was ineffective, seeing as JJ simply laughed it off boisterously. “No one can touch me! For I,” JJ widened his stance, forming his hands into two Js. “- am the king! Bow before me, King JJ!”

 

Yuri scoffed, kicking JJ in the shin with as much force as he could put into it. He relished when JJ grunted in pain, hopping on his other foot. “I would rather not, peasant.”

 

Before the other could bite back, they were both smacked on the head with a small black purse. 

 

“Yuri, we do not hit other students. Do not let your anger get the best of you,” Lilia said in a stern voice. The woman was very thin with noticeably high cheek bones and makeup. Her eyes were a piercing green that seemed to look into your soul. She had on a simple black leotard and nude tights with her hair pinned back in a neat bun.

 

Rubbing the top of his head, he nodded his head. “Yes, m’am, Ms. Baranovskaya.”

 

His teacher nodded in approval before walking away to the middle of the room. Her steps were elegant, showing decades of dancing experience. She clapped her hands twice, automatically grabbing everyone’s attention. 

 

“As of today, we will be start practicing and putting together for our winter recital.” She pulled a stack of small papers out of her purse. “I have the leading roles here, saved for you, my most advanced class. Of course, this performance will include the lower classes in order to prepare them for the future, as well as other forms of dancers.”

 

Yuri took one of the papers with a nod. He honestly didn’t care which role he got. After all, he knew that he would be the main characters, seeing as he was the best out of all the people in his class.

 

He read the top of the paper, rolling his eyes. The Nutcracker. Of course. It was a classic winter play after all. 

 

Scanning the list, he stopped once he read his name. 

 

 

_Clara - Yuri Plisetsky_

 

 

Wait, what the actual fuck?

 

“Ms. Baranovskaya, sorry to disrupt you, but I think there’s been a mistake with my role. It says that I’m playing the role of Clara, but I’m almost certain that’s a fu- … a girl’s part,” Yuri said, quickly covering up his curse. If the old woman were to catch him cursing again, he’d be banned from the studio for a month.

 

“No, Mr. Plisetsky. There’s no issue there. I’ve picked you to play the role of Clara due to the amount of difficulty the part requires.” Yuri sputtered, opening his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut after his teacher glared at him. “I hope that isn’t backtalk I’m sensing from you, Yuri.”

 

Yuri growled, digging his fingernails into the palm of his hand and crumpling the paper. “No, m’am.”

 

Lilia Baranovskaya nodded and continued giving information to the rest of the class. While she spoke, Yuri smoothed out the paper, quickly looking for what roles the rest of the class got.

 

 

_Town Mayor - Felix  Russo_

_Town Mayor’s wife - Anna Reyes_

_Uncle Drosselmeyer - Steven Gonzales_

_Fritz - Minami Kenjiro_

_Clara - Yuri Plisetsky_

_Mouse King - Jean Jacques Leroy_

_Nutcracker - Otabek Altin_

 

 

Wait, had he read that last one right? He looked it over three times before it finally set in. He crumpled the paper back up, throwing it at the wall in anger.

 

Lilia gave Yuri a swift thwack to the back of the head. “And what do you think you’re doing?”

 

Yuri grit his teeth together to the point they were grinding against each other. “Nothing,” he bit out, looking away from the woman’s eyes. Glancing to the side, he accidentally made eye contact with Otabek and glared at him with a burning hatred. The man’s face didn’t change, looking directly into Yuri’s eyes with a steady gaze before Yuri turned away with a scoff.

 

There was no way that he was going to dance with fucking Otabek of all people. There just no _fucking_ way.

 

Lilia hit the top of Yuri’s head again (albeit lighter than last time) and gestured towards Yuri’s _barre._ “I’ll be working with you first, seeing as you have one of the most difficult dances.”

 

Yuri nodded, wrapping his hand loosely around the pole. “Okay, what do you want me to do.”

 

Lilia reached forward and snatched Yuri’s other wrist without warning, pulling the boy closer to her. “Listen to me, Yuri,” she said, making him gulp nervously. “I am not forcing you to perform in this play. You can my studio and go anywhere else that you please. However, if you continue with  your pessimistic attitude and unwillingness, then I will see to it that you are banned from here. Do you understand?”

 

Yuri bit the inside of his lip. This woman always knew how to guilt trip him into cooperating. He wanted to look mad, but he just couldn't seem to bark at her like he did everyone else. He felt a burning sensation behind his eyes and cursed himself. What was he, a child? There was no need for him to cry like a child.

 

Instead, he nodded his head.

 

“Yes m’am.”

 

Satisfied, she let Yuri’s wrist slip out of her grip and curved her arms inwards in position one. “Alright then, let’s get started then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I don't really know much about ballet can you tell? I tried researching it I swear.
> 
> I won't know when the next chapter will be out because tbh I'm having some problems with finding time to write it and ACTUALLY writing it. You get me? No? Well, I tried.
> 
> Reviews and kudos are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fangirls' thirst can't stop and Yuri finds a lil cutie out in the alleyway.

“Order 153, one [cappuccino](https://www.paul-uk.com/cappuccino) and one hot chocolate to go!” Yuri called out, popping on the plastic lids of the cups and placing them gently on the counter. Two boys came up to collect their order, giving him a small thanks before walking away. Yuri didn’t bother saying ‘you’re welcome’.

 

Two months had already passed since had started working at _Bean Queen_ and little had changed. Guang Hong and Leo treated him like he still came in yesterday, Sara constantly tried to engage in a conversation (which then made Michele accuse him of flirting with his sister), and Otabek was…

 

Otabek was Otabek.

 

The two of them still hardly ever talked to one another, despite being forced to practice with one another during practice. When they were at work, hardly any words were ever exchanged and they constantly made accidental eye contact with one another. 

 

He didn’t know how Otabek felt about it, but Yuri was sick of it at this point. There were even some days he considered quitting this job just to get away from the other man. The only thing that stopped him from doing it was the thought of telling his grandpa. What would he think? What would he say? No, he couldn’t face that kind of disappointment from him.

 

So here he stayed; pouring hot drinks into cups and cleaning the tables when the traffic was low. 

 

Michele came to him with a small stack of receipts in his hand. “Just got a huge wave of customers,” the man said, placing them down on the counter. Yuri groaned, throwing back his head, earning himself a laugh from the other man.

 

“Yeah, I feel your pain. It’s getting busier with how close cold its getting. Christmas is only in a month or two, can you believe it?”

 

Yuri didn’t feel like talking to Michele, nodding without listening as he quickly poured and made the drinks listed on the receipts. Michele didn’t seem to notice the teen’s disinterest and continued flapping his lips anyway.

 

“I still haven’t decided what to get my sister for Christmas. She really likes small animals, so I was thinking on going off of something like that. Getting an actual animal might be overkill, don’t you think?”

 

Nod.

 

“Yeah, right? Despite her sociability, she’s surprisingly hard to buy presents for. Have you thought about what you’re going to get people for Christmas?”

 

Nod.

 

“Really? What did you have in mind?”

 

Nod.

 

“… Are you even listening to me?”

 

Nod. 

 

“The kitchen is on fire, we need you to go rescue the orphans we’ve hidden in the basement.”

 

Nod.

 

Michele sighed, resting his forehead on the cool counter. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, I’ll leave you to it.” The man walked away, leaving Yuri to his work.

 

Placing three more drinks on the counter, he called out the order number before turning around to start on the next order. He reached up for a china cup up in the cabinets, barely able to reach them. Just when he managed to grab one with the tip of his fingers, he almost dropped it after some high-pitched banshee scream erupted behind him.

 

Luckily, he managed to catch the fragile glass before it hit the floor. Turning around with an angry scowl on his face, he wasn’t surprised to see three of the girls from his fan club standing on the other side of the counter with their phones out and taking multiple pictures. Cat ears were nestled in their hair and black whiskers were drawn on their cheeks with cheap pencil eyeliner. They noisily screamed with each other, disturbing the entire shop. Yuri sighed, wiping off the cup with a rag and ignoring the girls behind him.

 

He should have known it wouldn’t take them long to find him. Hell, he was surprised they just _now_ found him. Usually it would only take them a week to dig up new information on him. Can’t they give him some privacy and leave him the hell alone?

 

“Oh my goodness, Yuri~!” one of the girls behind him squealed, clenching her fists to contain her questionable excitement. “Why didn’t you tell us that you worked here? Girls, we _have_ to tell the rest of the club!”

 

Another girl nodded her head furiously, clenching her phone so hard Yuri was surprised she hadn’t crushed it. Her cat ear headband clattered on the ground and she swooped it up, shoving it back on her head. He continued to ignore the three of them, pouring half a can of coffee beans into a grinder. 

 

“Yes, oh my gosh! Then we can come visit you every day, Yuri!”

 

Yuri slammed the can on the counter, glaring at the girls with a death glare. “Do that and I will end all of you. Learn to give people privacy, you insane freaks.” He turned away from the group, adding foam to one of the lattes he was preparing. “Get your drinks and leave. You’re holding up the line.”

 

The girls’ mood visibly faltered, the three of them exchanging looks with each other.

 

The third girl cleared her throat. “U-Um, well, we were wondering if there was any time you’d be free to-“

 

Yuri clenched his jaw, whipping around to face the girl. “Can you not listen? I don’t want any of your company. I’m working.”

 

The three of them picked up their drinks off the counter, one of the three looking close to crying. They all muttered a small thanks before walking away. With them gone, Yuri felt like he could finally breathe again. 

 

He hated being confronted by his fanclub. He felt like they were always calculating his every move, constantly looking for another thing to find out about him. It was like they constantly forgot that he was a person instead of some plaything for them to toy around with.

 

There was a tap on his shoulder and he turned his head to see Leo behind him with a look on his face that Yuri couldn’t decipher. “Come to the back with me. Don’t worry, Sara will cover your spot for now.”

 

A pit dropped in Yuri’s stomach. _Shit._ He suddenly felt sick with dread. When he walked out from behind the counter, his body felt lighter than air. It felt like he wasn’t even connected to the earth anymore. He couldn’t get his eyes to focus on anything and his clenched fists were trembling at his sides.

 

He was in trouble, wasn’t he?

 

If he thought telling his grandpa he was quitting was bad, what would he tell him if he got fired? Yuri couldn’t get the image of his grandpa’s disappointed face out of his head. His fingernails dug into his palms, breaking the skin.

 

“Yuri!” Leo said, trying to get the boy’s attention. His head shot up, realizing that the other had been calling his name the whole time. “Yuri! Calm down, okay?” Leo grabbed Yuri’s hands, cradling them in his own in an attempt to calm down the teenager.

 

Yuri clenched his eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath of air and exhaling shakily. He only now realized that Leo had brought him back into the break room. There was an old television on a rickety table playing nothing but static in one corner and a cheap, foldable table placed in the center of the room. Yuri had hardly come in here, never finding a reason to take a break that often.

 

“Yuri, it’s alright.”

 

Yuri shook his head, feeling like he was about to gag from all the anxiety that was swallowing him whole. His stomach lurched, but he managed to keep down his sickness.

 

“I just need you to answer a few things for me, alright? You’re not getting fired. Would you mind telling me about those girls you were… _chatting_ with out there?”

 

“Fangirls…” Yuri said airily. He could barely focus on the other man’s words. What was he saying? He’s not in trouble? How was that even possible? He felt like he was stuck in a dream and couldn’t wake up.

 

Leo’s eyebrow raised in a questioning manner, but he decided not to focus on one thing for too long. “Okay. So you know them, right?”

 

Yuri shook his head no.

 

Leo hummed for a minute. “Alright, then did you know what it is they wanted?”

 

Yuri started to shake his head again before he stopped. “They want… Gossip, I guess. Something like that.” He clenched his fists again, his nails digging deeper into the soft flesh of his hand. “They never leave me alone. I can’t get privacy. I’m constantly being watched by them. They’re like stalkers that never go away.”

 

Yuri heard Leo moving around and suddenly found a handful of napkins in front of his face. Looking up, Leo was giving him a tentative smile, obviously not knowing what to do.

 

“For your hands,” he said. Yuri took them, cleaning off the small drops of blood welling out of the red crescent moons his fingernails had left. He needed to learn more self control.

 

“… Thanks,” Yuri muttered, not looking the man in the eye as he cleaned up his hands. He didn’t have to look up to see the surprise and happiness on Leo’s face.

 

“It’s no problem, Yuri! You scared me for a second when you weren’t responding. Sorry that I gave you the wrong impression, but I just wanted to know if those girls were giving you a hard time or if that was a normal thing.”

 

Yuri scoffed. “Taking out your phone and taking multiple pictures of someone else is definitely not a normal thing to do.”

 

The small room was silent for a brief moment before Leo cleared his throat. “I think you should head home early today. It’s for the best. Those girls might come back and I wouldn’t want them harassing you again,” Leo said, crossing his arms and shaking his head dramatically. “They were holding up the line too, the little brats.”

 

Yuri actually snorted at Leo’s attempt to make him laugh. He quickly covered up his smile though. “Funny, I even told them that, too.”

 

They chuckled before Leo opened the door for him. “Go ahead and grab your stuff. I’ll tell everyone else that you weren’t feeling well or some other excuse.”

 

 

“Are you sure? I only have an hour left of my shift-“

 

“All the better reason to send you off early, huh?” Leo said, interrupting Yuri. “I won’t tell anyone else, but I’m going to have to tell Yuuko what happened. Alright?”

 

It was absolutely _not_ alright, but Yuri nodded anyways. “Sure, I don’t care what you do.”

 

Once Leo went back up front to the shop, Yuri hung up his apron and grabbed his school bag before leaving out the back door of the cafe. He shivered in the freezing air, watching his breath turn to fog when it blew past his lips. 

 

He zipped up his jacket and shoved his hands deep in the pockets. The wet gravel crunched under his feet as he walked down the alleyway and the ice almost slipped him more than once. He looked up to see that it was starting to snow; big, soft flakes falling gently from the sky, getting stuck in his eyelashes and hair. He flipped up his hood and continued on his way.

 

Yuri was just about to reach the main road when he heard a quiet mewl come from behind him. He froze and listened carefully. Did he imagine that?

 

Another meow. It sounded like it came from behind one of the huge dumpsters.

 

Crouching down, he pressed his face against the cold brick wall, trying to peer behind the dumpster. Squeezing one of his eyes shut, he spotted a small cat crouched in the shadows, shaking violently. From where Yuri was, he couldn’t get a very good look at it.

 

Holding out his hand, he beckoned the animal towards him with a voice he would never allow another person to ever hear him using. Cats always seemed to be drawn towards him, and this one was no different. It slowly crawled to Yuri, careful to make sure that he wasn’t a threat.

 

Once the cat was out of the shadows, it rubbed its head on Yuri’s leg, enjoying being petted by the blonde teenager. It was a smaller than average Siamese cat with a blue collar around its neck with a small bell jingling at the end. Yuri stroked the cat’s back, the cat purring loudly at the contact. 

 

Testing the waters, he put one hand under the cat’s front legs, making sure that it was okay with being picked up. When the cat showed no signs of anger or discomfort, he plucked the cat up off the ground, holding it close to his body. The cat was practically vibrating in his arms, happy to be close to Yuri’s body heat. The small thing was practically frozen.

 

Yuri bit his lip. He couldn’t leave this cat to freeze out in the cold all night, especially when it was so young. It only looked a one or two years old at the most. The collar meant that it belonged to someone, so there was a chance he could find the cat’s owner… His grandpa wouldn’t mind just one more cat in the house, would he?

 

Making up his mind, he opened up his jacket and let the cat crawl inside before zipping it back up. As he walked home, he could feel the cat wiggling under the fabric and flinched when its claws nicked his skin through his shirt.

 

Yuri pulled his phone from out of his pocket, texting Viktor a quick message.

 

 

Yuri: _dont pick me up today. walking home_

 

 

Yuri got a reply almost right away.

 

 

Viktor: _Are u sure? There’s freezing warning 2night._

 

 

Yuri pocketed his phone, not bothering to reply. Viktor would be smart enough to realize what his lack of a response meant. Or not. After all, he was a little thick in the head sometimes.

 

By the time he got home, he was shivering just as much as the cat was when he first found it. His teeth chattering against each other noisily and he lost all feeling in his hands. He threw his bag down on the ground and unzipped his jacket, the cat he had picked up jumping down and landed gracefully on its paws. It mewled at the warmth of the house and started rubbing itself all over Yuri again. The teen nudged it away gently with his foot, not wanting to accidentally step on the small kitten.

 

“Hey, grandpa! You home?” He waited. There was no response.

 

Yuri went to his room, letting the small cat inside before closing the door behind him. Resting on top of his bed was Levi, who was excited to see Yuri. He sat on the bed to pet his own cat while the other one pawed at his leg, meowing for attention.

 

Levi noticed the other cat and hissed at it, hopping down from the bed and approaching the other cat. When Levi tried swiping at it, Yuri hit her lightly on the head.

 

“Cut that out. You’re going have to get along.” 

 

Levi growled at the small Siamese cat before sauntering away, curling her tail on Yuri’s leg. She rested between his feet, tail swishing side to side.

 

Yuri picked up the other cat, much to Levi’s disappointment. The small cat pawed at Yuri’s hand as he played with the bell on its collar. He looked for some sort of tag on the collar, but there was nothing other than the bell. 

 

Yuri hummed, letting the cat down on his lap. It curled up and went out like a light, purring contently in its sleep. Yuri stroked the cat’s head with his finger deep in thought.

 

“Would have been real nice if your owner thought to put some information on your damn collar. A bell isn’t the most helpful thing, you know.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry about how long this took... I could put up a thousand excuses, but you aren't interested in that, so I'll shut it.
> 
> I know this chapter is horrifically short and boring (it's my least favorite one rn) but I had to get something up here and if I put up all that I had in mind, this would have been a little TOO long. So take this and hope I get back soon.
> 
> psssst, reviews are my life line ;^)

**Author's Note:**

> All comments, kudos, etc are very much appreciated!


End file.
